As a quick follow-up to my post about the data breach on Friday…  there are numerous questions about the website that Equifax is using (www.equifaxsecurity2017.com) to tell people if they were impacted by the breach and to lead them to the year of free credit monitoring.  First, the terms and conditions of using the website and enrolling in Trusted ID, the credit monitoring service, seem to indicate that you’re giving up your rights to participate in any class action lawsuits against Equifax by using them.  Next, people have reported that the check to see if you are impacted was giving random results.  For example, entering “Test” as the last name and “123456” as the SSN was telling people they were impacted.  Similarly, using two different browsers with a real last name and SSN was giving two different responses.  Those issues are supposedly now corrected.  Equifax’s site indicates that:

“1) You Can Determine Your Status Immediately
Some consumers who visited the website soon after its launch failed to receive confirmation clarifying whether or not they were potentially impacted. That issue is now resolved, and we encourage those consumers to revisit the site to receive a response that clarifies their status.

2) No Waiver Of Rights For This Cyber Security Incident
In response to consumer inquiries, we have made it clear that the arbitration clause and class action waiver included in the Equifax and TrustedID Premier terms of use does not apply to this cybersecurity incident.”

I have no idea whether the issues above are truly corrected.  While it seems unlikely that our government would allow consumers to give up their rights by enrolling in credit monitoring due to a breach like this, I can’t guarantee it.  I highly doubt that Equifax was trying to pull a fast one, knowing there’s no way they’d get away with it.  Most likely, there was a technical issue with a site that was created on a rushed basis, and the terms and conditions people were referencing were never intended to apply to this data breach.  But, if you decide to enroll in Trusted ID, I wanted you to be aware of what has transpired over the last few days and make your decision with this knowledge.